Christoph Kolbe

The distinction between different group typologies make us understand, why instructional processes come across and progress so diversely. In the article, anxious, depressive, histrionic and narcissistic groups are characterized against the background of existential analytical structure theory, the effects on the leader are described and specific interventions for work with such groups are demonstrated.

School and Existence

An existential analytical study concerning the ties between school experiences and Burnout-Syndroms

Franz Scheßl

Does schooling contribute to the development of pupils to stimulate them in such a way that they build their lives in a free and self dependent manner? And does this protect against burnout? Or does schooling lead to the development of beliefs and behavior patterns, which sooner or later lead to an existential crisis and corresponding disorders? This is the question I tried to answer upon in my thesis. This paper contains a summary of the theoretical part, the research design as well as the results.

Teaching today: Between self-abandonment and fulfillment of life´s meaning

Anton Nindl

Teachers stand at the intersection of multiple relationships with students, parents, colleagues as well as superiors, and thus find themselves confronted with various problematic situations such as indifference and aggressivity, bullying and mobbing, depreciation and burnout. The contribution will examine how these phenomena can be understood, what psychodynamic protective reactions they provoke among teachers and students, and what answers can be given from an existential analytical point of view.

Meaning in classes – authentic teaching

Christoph Kolbe

This lecture takes a look at the lebensraum school or teaching classes, as seen from the point of view of authenticity: How is it to be achieved, that school becomes a place where people deal with one another in an authentic manner? The hypothesis behind this question is that an authentic manner of teaching makes the educational process more lively and meaningful, while appealing to the person involved and providing for directness. To enable this, the lecture will reflect authenticity under the aspects of attitude as well as structuring with regard to school reality. These thoughts are transferable to other pedagogical fields of work.

The Significance of the Person in Existential Education

Eva Maria Waibel

This article sketches out the existential approach to education, based on Existential Analysis. The person, both as child and educator, takes centre stage. The focus is on the child in ist uniqueness, its potential und its capacity to imagine and decide. This approach has important ramifications for the predictability and feasibility of education. A phenomenological openness to the given circumstances is essential. The goal of Existential Education is to enable children to interact freely with the world around them.

The development and encouragement of emotional competence in school practice

Manfred Zmy

The acquisition of competence is focused on in today‘s learning at school. In the process, these skills should not be reduced to their cognitive components, for they essentially include emotional aspects, namely the perception, expression, understanding and regulation of feelings. These abilities also largely determine the learning behavior of students. This speech investigates the importance of emotions for learning in everyday school life and introduces possibilities of developing and encouraging emotional skills in school practice. It will conclusively be shown that emotional competence is a fundamental requirement for personal learning, which is well embedded in the existential analytical anthropology.

Prevention of violence at schools

Doris Kessler

The deliberate and purposeful enhancement of social competence as well as selfcompetence, prove to be the most effective approaches towards the prevention of violence. Personal abilities and attitudes help adjust individual behavior patterns to the collective focus on activity. Socially competent persons associate their interests with attitudes and values of a community. Having a clear picture of oneself, knowing one‘s own social references, as well as the ability to assess one‘s own strengths and weaknesses, establishes the basis for social behavior. Also in a school context the idea is to enhance self-confidence and emotional competence, to assume responsibility for the community and to experience one‘s own effectiveness by carrying out tasks.

School without violence

An existential analytical curriculum for dealing with violence and mobbing in schools

Christa Lopatka

Mobbing and violence in schools have become a serious problem for pupils and teachers. They can have profound follow-on effects on the pupils and teachers physical, psychosocial and psychosomatic health situations. The curriculum, which has been conceptualized and already put to use by a group of existential analysts, was designed in order to mediate to teachers as well as prospective teachers in an advanced training course how to deal rapidly and competently with cases of violence and mobbing in school environment.